My God that is nice looking wood. Not installing a snare bed, well I cant see that working out for you, all snares need a bed. I think you could of spent a little more time matching the staves so the grain would flow together to look more like a one piece shell, the way it is you cant miss the seams. It will still look great, be pretty hard to make that wood look bad.

OK, I will do my best :) I hope the final result is going to kick some ass !
I'll keep you posted when it is finished.